Catalytic conversion of furfural from pyrolysis of sunflower seed hulls for producing bio-based furfuryl alcohol

CASONI ANDRÉS IVAN; HOCH PATRICIA; VOLPE MARÍA ALICIA; GUTIERREZ VICTORIA SOLEDAD

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018 p. 237 - 246

0959-6526

Clean production of furfuryl alcohol, an industrial product used worldwide, is presented using as a raw material sunflower seed hulls, an abundant agro-industrial waste. The method involves two steps. Firstly, a fast pyrolysis of pre-treated hulls, performed washing with aqueous solutions of phosphoric acid or zinc chloride, is carried out at 400C under a 200 mL/min of nitrogen flow, where a bio-oil rich in furfural is obtained. In the second stage, the catalytic hydrogenation of furfural is carried out, to obtain furfuryl alcohol over palladium supported on bio-chars obtained as side products of the hull pyrolysis. Highcatalytic performance for the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol under batch conditions at 110C and 0.4 MPa of hydrogen is reached. A preliminary industrial scale process is presented using the laboratory data for the technical evaluation. It is concluded that it is possible to obtain furfuryl alcohol from a renewable source consisting of sunflower seed hulls.